Yemeni Cleric Opposes Proposed Ban On Child Brides
Remember Elham Mahdi al Assi, the 13-year old Yemeni child bride who died 5 days after her wedding? Elham Mahdi al Assi died from severe haemorrahaging resulting from the rupture of internal organs from sexual activity. Husband 23-year old Abed al-Hikmi took sex performance enhancing pills, tied Elham Mahdi al Assi up, and forced himself on her in prolonged and repeated rough sex. Elham Mahdi al Assi died a tragic death. But did she die in vain? Has anything been done to stop child marriages in Yemen, a country where child brides are common?
Yemeni Government Proposed Banning Girls Below 17 Getting Married
In February 2009, the Yemeni Government passed a law which set a minimum marriageable age of 17 years for a Yemeni girl to get married. But due to pressure from politicians and clerics, this law was repealed and then sent to a constitutional committee of the Yemeni parliament for review. The outcome of the review is expected in May 2010. Opposition to this ban on child marriages also came from – of all people – women themselves! In March this year, there was a protest staged by women carrying banners that said “Don’t ban what Allah made permissible” and “Stop violating Islamic Sharia law in the name of rights and freedoms.”
The Clerics Opposition
The opposition to the child bride ban is led by influencial Muslim cleric Sheik Adbul-Majid al-Zindani. In March this year, Sheik Adbul-Majid al-Zindani issued a fatwa which declared as apostates people who supported the ban on child brides. He described the ban as un-Islamic.
Now Sheik Adbul-Majid al-Zindani has called for a million signatures campaign to oppose the ban on child brides. In a recent speech at Imam University, Sheik Adbul-Majid al-Zindani said: “”You have to gather a million signatures that supports the demands of clerics. If the issue calls on us to gather a million protesters, we’ll organize it.”
But why is Sheik Adbul-Majid al-Zindani so against the ban on child brides? He said that this is because such a ban “threatens our culture and society and spreads immorality.”
The Yemeni Government Is Weak
The Yemeni government is in a fix. On the one hand, it has to do something to deflect the international pressure which grew stronger following Elham Madhi al Assi’s tragic death. But its hands are tied in that the Yemeni government needs the support of religious leaders to stay in power. With the parliamentary constitutional committee expected to report soon on its review of the law imposing a minimum marriageable age of 17, and the weakness of the Yemeni government, radical clerics and Islamic law students are becoming increasing more vocal in their opposition to the ban.
Think About It
Yemen’s Ministry of Social Affairs reported in 2009 that 25% of all females marry before they attain the age of 15. This practise of marrying child brides is widely accepted in the country’s deeply tribal society. So did Elham Madhi al Assi’s death lead to any change in this tribal custom of child marriages? If it does, then something good would have come out of Elham Madhi al Assi’s death. Will the Yemeni government and its lawmakers have the courage to push through the necessary changes? If they do, will it be a symbolic change – pass the law banning child marriage but don’t enforce it. If this is so, then it is likely that Yemenis will ignore the law, knowing they won’t be prosecuted. In which case, we are back to this question: Did Elham Madhi al Assi die in vain?
Previous posts
How Elham Mahdi al Assi Died
Child Marriage – Death Of 13 Year Old Bride After Wedding
Muslim Child Marriages – Yes or No?
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